Chicago Loop

The Loop is <a href="/facts/Chicago/yPMokrXH">Chicago</a>'s <a href="/facts/Central_business_district/WSEMBY9I">central business district</a> and one of the city's 77 municipally recognized <a href="/facts/Community_areas_in_Chicago/4fLrLMyj">community areas</a>. Located at the center of <a href="/facts/Downtown/WvmTHvTE">downtown</a> Chicago on the shores of <a href="/facts/Lake_Michigan/t5ynSsvY">Lake Michigan</a>, it is the second-largest business district in <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a>, after <a href="/facts/Midtown_Manhattan/vc7r8h51">Midtown Manhattan</a>. The headquarters and regional offices of several global and national businesses, retail establishments, restaurants, hotels, and theaters—as well as many of Chicago's most famous attractions—are located in the Loop. The neighborhood also hosts Chicago's <a href="/facts/Chicago_City_Hall/nDpHDo7z">City Hall</a>, the seat of <a href="/facts/Cook_County,_Illinois/ARqrl8At">Cook County</a>, offices of other levels of government, and several foreign <a href="/facts/Consulates/6CaylqJe">consulates</a>. The intersection of <a href="/facts/State_Street_(Chicago)/Akswkplr">State Street</a> and <a href="/facts/Madison_Street_(Chicago)/ypwFUH6w">Madison Street</a> in the Loop is the origin point for the address system on <a href="/facts/Roads_and_expressways_in_Chicago/jYskMcqC">Chicago's street grid</a>.
The Loop's definition and perceived boundaries have developed over time. Since the 1920s, the area bounded by the <a href="/facts/Chicago_River/QKFIK3SC">Chicago River</a> to the west and north, Lake Michigan to the east, and <a href="/facts/Roosevelt_Road/dK3aEEpq">Roosevelt Road</a> (12th Street) to the south has been called the Loop. It took its name from a somewhat smaller area, the 35 city blocks bounded on the north by Lake Street, on the west by Wells Street, on the south by Van Buren Street, and on the east by Wabash Avenue—the <a href="/facts/Union_Loop/d1vmESpP">Union Loop</a> formed by the <a href="/facts/Chicago_%27L%27/wNUsQHDm">'L'</a> in the late 1800s. Similarly, "<a href="/facts/South_Loop,_Chicago/sdHwWFFu">South</a>" and "<a href="/facts/West_Loop,_Chicago/JeXrLLUw">West Loop</a>" historically referred to areas within the Loop proper, but in the 21st century began to refer to the entire <a href="/facts/Near_South_Side,_Chicago/ewvkuUmg">Near South</a> and much of the <a href="/facts/Near_West_Side,_Chicago/JeXrLLUw">Near West Sides</a> of the city, respectively.
In 1803, the <a href="/facts/United_States_Army/WACWBEK9">United States Army</a> built <a href="/facts/Fort_Dearborn/Fm0Cv0od">Fort Dearborn</a> in what is now the Loop; although earlier settlement was present, this was the first settlement in the area sponsored by the <a href="/facts/United_States_federal_government/VJCxUaf7">United States federal government</a>. When Chicago and Cook County were incorporated in the 1830s, the area was selected as the site of their respective seats. Originally mixed-use, the neighborhood became increasingly commercial in the 1870s. This process accelerated in the aftermath of the 1871 <a href="/facts/Great_Chicago_Fire/qhfpf4LX">Great Chicago Fire</a>, which destroyed most of the neighborhood's buildings. Some of the world's earliest <a href="/facts/Skyscraper/5nM0naVB">skyscrapers</a> were constructed in the Loop, giving rise to the <a href="/facts/Chicago_school_(architecture)/p8p1Iedt">Chicago School of architecture</a>. By the late 19th century, cable car turnarounds and the Union Loop encircled the area, giving the neighborhood its name. Near the lake, <a href="/facts/Grant_Park_(Chicago)/n4wVvNxP">Grant Park</a>, known as "Chicago's front yard", is Chicago's oldest park; it was significantly expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and houses a number of features and museums. Starting in the 1920s, road improvements for highways were constructed to and into the Loop, perhaps most famously <a href="/facts/U.S._Route_66/Iw3BdFCs">U.S. Route 66</a>, which opened in 1926.
While dominated by offices and public buildings, its residential population boomed during the latter 20th century and first decades of the 21st, partly due to the development of former rail yards (at one time, the area had six major interurban railroad terminals and land was also needed for extensive rail cargo storage and transfer), industrial building conversions, as well as additional high-rise residences. Since 1950, the Loop's resident population has increased in percentage terms, the most out of all of Chicago's community areas.

Chicago Loop open-in-new

Chicago Loop